Environmental Influences on Tolerance

[lman_15]

I've been reading a ton of psychology papers about how tolerance is greatly influenced by the environment in which you use your drug. Basically that environmental cues, cue your body that your about to ingest a drug and because of that your body prepares counter measures and somewhat blocks your high in a sense. So that if your used to using in your house all the time, then go and use in a park you will get much higher in the park because the environmental cues which were in your house aren't in the park. Is this true? To what extent? Lastly, what would be considered a new environment?

 

[Tommyboy]

^ Well what did the psychology papers say about it being true, and what new environments are? I think the park example is accurate, considering the person always gets high elsewhere, and never in the park. I don't know if any of us can say that we felt a lot higher when we did our drugs somewhere else for a change, and this seems to be more of an issue with overdose.

Pavlovian Conditioning and Overdose explains what you are referring to, and might even be one of the articles you have read, but it's worth linking in here.

 

[blakmike]

A bovine slaughterhouse would be a new environment.....

 

[BabyGurl3171]

It seems to be true for me tonight.
I'm smokin alone for the first time in a whole lotta years and even though I'm still usin my norm 3-4 bong rips, I feel way more fucked up. If ya consider it an environment change, wth Lol

 

[tokenname]

I've been reading a ton of psychology papers about how tolerance is greatly influenced by the environment in which you use your drug. Basically that environmental cues, cue your body that your about to ingest a drug and because of that your body prepares counter measures and somewhat blocks your high in a sense. So that if your used to using in your house all the time, then go and use in a park you will get much higher in the park because the environmental cues which were in your house aren't in the park. Is this true? To what extent? Lastly, what would be considered a new environment?

I believe, sure, that would make perfect sense..as well as relate to just about anything or any activity, not just drugs.
New different environments wake up our senses again, whereas sticking to what's knownn( Routine) affords us the chance to adapt so as to find comfort.
We start not seeing or hearing what is around us, then we become desensitized to feelings, even including a "high."
When you're in a different space, you wake up, move around, and can use our senses to our advantage yet again.
Substance use is all about changing/altering our "state" So, this makes sense to me.
Good luck to anybody else.

~token

 

[PeacePipeChief]

this is very interesting , and now that i think about it , at the course i was in a little over a month ago , when id smoke up on break id come back and put my head in my arms , so stoned i became useless lol , but smoking the same bud at home i would just get stoned as usual . I narrowed it down to the fact i was smoking from joints/one hitters/pipes at class , and at home always through a bong . I found it much harder to 'judge' where I was getting at class , where as at home i know its 2 cones , wait a minute or two , another ... Sort of thing . At class id smoke a joint and 10 minutes later go fuck less weed next time , or get too high off the pipe , but maybe it was the environmental change ?

 

[Allein]

The OPs question was about effects on tolerance, for me this can be a subjective matter but the real definition is more medical and specific IMO.

Given the well documented power of placebo, and also the environmental triggers that can cause people with previous addictions to react both physically and mentally. It seems very likely that the effect of a substance may alter for the user in used in a different environment.

I have certainly experienced the the same numerous times, the subjective view a a drug high is not just the drug it is the synergy of the set and setting, to borrow a very old phrase from a very wise man